It is the objective of this project to develop and test a theory of the role of informal work patterns and economic exchanges in urban communities; and to study the effect of informal work systems (Irregular Economy) on family income-gathering and on community life. Both regular and irregular economic structures are necessary to sustain family and community life. Irregular Economic activities are pervasive and widespread throughout society, but fulfill a differential function in upper and middle income neighborhoods as opposed to lower income and working class areas. In upper and middle income areas, the function is more apt to be facilitative, and participation in the Irregular Economy, at either the producer or consumer end, is more likely to be a matter of choice. In low income and working class communities it is intimately linked to social, economic and psychological adjustments required by 1) scarcities of goods and services and 2) a blocked opportunity structure that denies access by some people to well paying and mobile job opportunities in the conventional labor market. The fundamental goals and objectives of this study are: 1) to describe the extensiveness of Irregular Economic activity both within and across neighborhoods, focusing on the structural aspects of support and the function of the Irregular Economy in each social environment. 2) to document the range and nature of Irregular Economic activities, and the role of such activities in maintaining community structure as well as in the individual's work career. 3) to examine social relations, norms, values and customs that provide the underpinning for irregular economic exchanges.